The Great Debate

William's 5th grade SEM class focused on debate this year.  The topic that was chosen for them to debate was a fictional law requiring all children 16 and younger to wear a bicycle helmet.  They spent time learning to to construct responses and rebuttals.  They researched and wrote.  Last Tuesday night, they came together with SEM students from three other schools to debate the issue.

I'm still not sure who won any of the debates.  William's team did well on their initial speeches, I thought, but struggled with the rebuttal.  Still, it was a good experience for William to learn to research and articulate positions on an issue like this.

Everyone received a medal for their participation:

 William and his good friend Tanner:

William has enjoyed participating in SEM at Summit.  It has given him a chance to research and write and pursue interests that he might not otherwise have had a chance to pursue.  It has been good for him to stretch himself and work on extra projects on topics that he enjoys.  

April Showers

Yesterday it was 70 degrees.

Sigh.